#adamn1324

au meme (send me a pairing & an au and i’ll make a graphic):

13. Would you try to erase me?

(Warning: spoilers for the ending of the Barista AU below)

–

Cosima gapes at Beth, filling the doorway with her heaving chest and her impossible words: she’s gone.

Cosima’s first reaction is a sort of muddy anger, that Sarah would abandon all that they’d been together (needy), that Sarah would throw away everything Cosima had done for her (prideful), that Sarah would run away rather than own up to her own actions (spiteful), that Sarah would maybe only be gone for a little while (bitter, but… hopeful too).

Does Sarah expect that running away will make it not be real? Cosima asks herself silently as Beth lays a consoling hand on her arm, Is it really that simple?

i’m doing byeler because i’m sad and i can lol (sorry if you don’t watch stranger things! if you do, canon divergence pre-season two so you should be fine if you aren’t caught up

mike actually hasn’t thought about his soulmate much - he’s only fourteen, after all. he supposes he’ll find it, one day, but he’s not in any rush. besides, it’s not like his soulmate wouldn’t know - he doesn’t do anything to cover up his mark. it sits on his neck, in plain sight - a 20 sided die. he was destined to be a nerd.

will continues to hide his mark each day, because unlike mike, he has thought about it. mike’s is on his neck in plain view for everyone to see, and he doesn’t bother to cover it up like most people would. but will’s is on his elbow. much easier to cover it up.

he remember the first day he wanted to cover it up. he ran home from the first day of kindergarten, and he told his parents excitedly - he found his soulmate. mike wheeler. he was a little shy to tell mike that day, but he knew his parents would be excited.

his dad was going to hit him. he swear he was. he was yelling terrible words he’d never heard before, but an eight-year-old jonathan scooped him up and took him back to his room while his mom yelled and yelled and yelled. will cried for hours while jonathan pet his hair and told him it was okay, it was okay, it was okay. but will couldn’t help but feel like it wasn’t.

they’re friends - best friends. mike is just happy to have someone to talk to that actually listens, unlike his sister (who doesn’t want to be seen with him) and his parents (who hear him, but don’t listen to him). will’s heart aches and stomach flutters every time mike even talks but - he can’t tell him. he just can’t.

it’s raining the day lonnie leaves. will breathes a slight sigh of relief, but he doesn’t tell jonathan. he allows his big brother to lock him away and build castle byers. it’s terrible. his mom cries. it’s home.

then, all the sudden, will is gone. the demogorgan, he said. it got me. that was the last thing he said. mike cries for two days straight.

eleven shows up, and mike feels almost immediately drawn to her. she’s a storm inside of a girl, she’s calm, she’s quiet. she reminds him of will. if she can help get him back, he’ll love her forever.

will’s body is found. joyce is devastated. mike can’t tell if he’s any better. but she goes to the morgue to see the body and - “that’s not my son,” she insists, staring determinedly at his body. mike, who she demanded be let in with her, frowns. “what do you mean?” she points to his elbow, which is bare. mike doesn’t understand at all.

the upside down. it all comes together like pieces of a puzzle. eleven helps them get will back, she helps kill the demogorgan. mike is sure that she’s his soulmate. he’s so glad at the prospect of having will back he even kisses her, and she kisses back.

everyone comes out okay, in the end. eleven goes home with hopper, of all people, and mike stops her on the way out. “hey,” he says. “do you have a mark?” she tilts her head, inquisitive, and holds up her wrist. he shakes his head. “no, no,” he says. “not your number. i mean…” he puts his fingers to his neck. she looks at it and frowns, unsure of what he means. when she turns to go, he sees at the nape of her neck, a pink lily. his heart breaks just a little.

mike, dustin, and lucas rush to the hospital. will is frail and tired, but he’s happy to see them at least. they excitedly fill them in, and will, exhausted, still smiles and listens to them. once they’re done, all finally tuckered out, will clears his throat. “hey, guys,” he says. they all immediately perk up, willing to do pretty much whatever will wants after this whole mess. “can i have a minute with mike?”

dustin and lucas glance at each other but shrug and excuse themselves. dustin pats mike on the back and lucas squeezes will’s hand before they leave. once the door closes behind them, mike smiles at will. “what’s up?”

will’s heart jumps in his chest. he’s afraid, but after what he’s gone through, he can’t stand to be quiet about it anymore. he reaches for the sleeve on his left arm and rolls it up. mike frowns, confused, but will motions for his hand. mike obliges and will brings mike’s hand to his elbow.

ik i already messaged you but i hope you’re doing okay <3

Who said “I love you” first: definitely evie. mal isn’t… as in touch with her emotions and she was too scared to say it, whereas evie is more the type to say it as soon as she feels it. when she said it, she told mal she didn’t have to say it back, but of course mal did bc of course she loves evie like…. who doesn’t????

Who would have the other’s picture as their phone background: definitely mal. evie is her lockscreen, homescreen, and in all of her social media icons/most of her social media pictures.

Who leaves notes written in fog on the bathroom mirror: evie!! “i love you, sweetums!” “you got this, m!” “call me after work!!!”

Who buys the other cheesy gifts: definitely evie and mal loves every second of it.

Who initiated the first kiss: mal bc she’s more take-charge and forceful like that

Who kisses the other awake in the morning: mal, on the off-days she wakes up earlier than evie lol.

Who starts tickle fights: mal bc evie will lose if she even tries. mal is the master tickler.

Who asks who if they can join the other in the shower: obviously mal

Who surprises the other in the middle of the day at work with lunch: evie! and mal is like ‘babe im working’ but as she says that she’s picking up her coat, turning off her laptop, and heading for the door

Who was nervous and shy on the first date: mal. evie was obviously cool, calm, and collected.

Who kills/takes out the spiders: mal, evie hates spiders/creepy crawlies

Who loudly proclaims their love when they’re drunk: definitely both lol they’re just sitting there in an ‘i love you more’ competition 

42. I gave you my very best.

–

“Where’s Cosima?” a constant barrage of the single question, like Sarah has run out of ammunition and plans to beat Rachel to death with only that, pounding those words against Rachel’s ears incessantly until Rachel is so tempted to lie.

And lie she does: easily.

“Cosima succumbed to her illness; I’m sure she gave your cure her very best attempt.”

The OWLs slam down on Sarah like a cartoon piano, and suddenly even Quidditch is a distant mirage amidst the barren landscape of parchment, quills, and ink, her hand cramping in a way she’d never thought possible - but Cosima said this was the ticket to an O (and it’s entirely likely she’d get at least one, apparently).

She studies wherever she can find enough space to spiral out and keep all her half-crumpled papers within reach - and wherever a Ravenclaw (unwelcome in the cozy Slytherin common room where most of Sarah’s compatriots are cramming) can curl up beside her and answer occasional questions.

And, of course, provide some… incentive.

Quince - temptation

–

“How easy do you think it would be?” “What?” “To run away, erase ourselves from the face of the earth like Mika did, to never come back?”

Sarah leans forward so she can get a better view of Cosima’s face beside her; it’s not the kind of question Cosima would ask - suggesting to leave behind everything they’d worked for, all they’d lost, their lives even (if enough time passed) - and for what? To die alone?

“Not easy enough,” Sarah replies, trying to keep her tone light like Cosima’s had been, “Not for all we stand to lose.”

To step into Cosima’s lab is to shed the skins of all the fake people she’s built over the years, to let the lies drift off her shoulders like so much dust (nothing quite so beautiful as snow); Sarah feels the weight, but she feels its absence more, in those moments of peace.

Cosima’s lack of judgement, her knack for picking up those discarded pieces and admiring them like works of art by an undiscovered artist (less like the scientist Sarah might expect, picking out holes and inconsistencies under a microscope), alleviates the tension from Sarah’s shoulders and forearms, where she holds it for defence.

She feels the eventual embrace the way she feels a punch: it starts as a flicker in her core, radiating out towards her feet first (planting them like roots rather than claws digging in), then through her back and shoulders, rippling down through that tense forearm, and finally out through the hand - but where a punch feels like fire zipping from muscle group to muscle group, this feels like the sun.